The San Marcos Red Sox? Cougars Go Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back in Game One Rout of Bethany
April 27, 2007
About a week after the MLB's Boston Red Sox hit four consecutive home runs against the Yankees, the NAIA's Cal State San Marcos Cougars matched that feat against Bethany University, en route to a 17-8 win. The success wouldn't carry into game two, however, as CSUSM lost a 16-15 heartbreaker.
The four straight homers, all solo, came as part of a 7-run fourth inning in which the Cougars hit five home runs total. Over the course of the double-header, the two teams combined for an astonishing 14 home runs, scoring 56 runs overall.
In game one, CSUSM blew open a 1-1 ballgame in the second inning. The team scored 7 runs in the inning, 5 of which came with two outs. After Tristan Gale and Scott Shapiro recorded RBI's, Austin Way delivered a two-out RBI single. That was followed by a Terry Moritz RBI double, which brought Adam Ricciardulli to the plate with two outs. Ricciardulli, who hadn't homered since February 18th, capped off the two-out rally by blasting a ball well over the left-centerfield fence. It was his fourth on the season.
When that same part of the Cougar lineup stepped to the plate in the fourth inning, the results would be identical - though in much grander fashion. Shapiro led the inning off with a majestic home run to center, making the score 9-2. Way followed him up with an arguably longer shot to right, which landed somewhere in the San Marcos High Agricultural Center. Next up was Moritz, who deposited a fastball over the leftfield wall to make it three-in-a-row. That brought Ricciardulli to the plate with a chance to make history - and he didn't miss the opportunity, hitting a ball just over the fence in left as his teammates and fans cheered on.
Two outs and a pitching change later, Gale would get in on the act, making it a five homerun inning by absolutely crushing a three-run shot onto San Marcos Boulevard. The historic inning would finally come to an end when Ricciardulli flied out to the wall in center with the bases loaded.
Bethany would get some late runs, and Chuck Baird would add yet another home run for the Cougars in the 7th, as the game ended with a final score of 17-8.
Lost in the unbelievable hitting performance was Shapiro's work on the mound. As usual, the big righty came out struggling a bit with control, hitting the first batter and walking the second. But he quickly got it together, and ended up striking out the side in the first while only allowing one run. Shapiro had his off-speed stuff working for his five innings on the mound, and the fans saw plenty of bad swings on two-strike counts from opposing hitters waving at Shapiro's curveball. He allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, striking out seven and cruising to the win. Relievers Auggie Richardson and Jeff Stephenson threw scoreless innings to help secure the victory.
Game two would be equally wild, but unfortunately the Cougars were on the losing end. The Bethany lineup took its frustrations out on starter Lance McCormick, scoring three in the first on a Guillaume Fullum three-run homer.
But the Cougars would quickly bounce back with yet another big inning, scoring 8 runs in the bottom of the first. Ricardo Moran drew a leadoff walk, Tristan Gale flipped a single to right, and Shapiro drilled a base hit to left to load the bases with nobody out. After Moran was cut down at home on a fielder's choice, Terry Moritz delivered the first run with a single back up the middle. Ricciardulli was hit by a pitch to make the score 3-2, and an error brought the tying run in. Third baseman Juan Perez gave CSUSM the lead with an RBI single, and doubles by Shane Sullenger and Gale would make the game 8-3.
Unlike game one, however, Bethany would quickly respond. McCormick got three consecutive ground balls to start the second, but all three found their way through the infield. Runs scored on a hit-by-pitch, groundout, and single off McCormick's glove. Reliever Eric Julienne came on, and was greeted with an RBI double on his first pitch. By the time the inning ended, CSUSM was trailing 9-8.
Sloppy defense in the third would allow Bethany to extend the lead to 13-8, as their starter Austin Horick settled down to throw a couple scoreless innings. But the Cougars would get to him in the fourth, as Scott Shapiro led off the frame with what might have been the most impressive blast of all the home runs on Friday. It looked like that would be all CSUSM would get in the inning, but the team rallied to load the bases with two outs for Shane Sullenger. Sullenger, the team's normally light-hitting second baseman, quickly got down in the count 0-2. But he would slice the next pitch deep to right. Off the bat, it looked like a sure fly-out; but the rightfielder kept going back, and back, and back - and could only watch as the ball just cleared the fence for an improbable game-tying grand slam.
After David Julio threw a much-needed scoreless fifth, Tristan Gale would give the Cougars the lead with a leadoff homer to make the score 14-13. Julio would throw another scoreless inning in the 6th, and come out to try to close the game down in the 7th. He was able to get two outs, but with a runner on third, David Raichart came through with a base hit down the leftfield line to deny CSUSM the victory. On the very next pitch, Brian Beres knocked a two-run homer to right-center to give Bethany a 16-14 lead.
The Cougars rallied in the bottom of the 7th for one, but reliever Mark Koski induced an Adam Ricciardulli groundout to end the game and send the Cougars home with a disappointing split. CSUSM, now 18-20 on the season, will face Bethany in another crucial double-header tomorrow, and Chapman on Sunday in the team's final game of the year.